Budget constraints often compel school districts and decision–makers -- along with parents -- to choose unhealthy, low–cost options for feeding children. And many schools have turned the cafeteria into a revenue stream at the expense of children’s health, serving high–calorie, high–sugar candy and soda, and junk food.

Fortunately, parents, politicians, and schools are beginning to wake up to the health consequences of such foods, and are daring to envision school cafeterias that not only offer appealing, nutritious food, but also offer ways to cut food waste through recycling and composting.

One of the most creative ways to connect what children eat with teaching about health, nutrition and the environment, is to plant a school garden and grow food on site. Gardens can compost food and yard waste, plowing it back into the soil. Teachers can use gardens to teach basic ecological principles hands–on, while teaching to standards on subjects such as science, math and social studies. Best of all, kids learn environmental and nutritional lessons, leading to healthier choices and healthier lives.

On January 25th, First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled new standards for school meals that will mean healthier meals for the 32 million American kids that participate in school meal programs every school day.

Do kids at your school understand how sad their "Happy Meal" really is? Enlighten them in 6 minutes with Inform, Inc.'s "The Secret Life of Beef." Watch the video, get the whole story and consider shedding a few pounds this year...of beef, that is.

Kids love to dig in the dirt, and we all like to eat food fresh from the garden. Teach gardening and nutrition with a school container garden or garden in a bag and container gardening curricula. Container and pocket gardens are being used all over, from the U.S. to the U.K. to Africa. Use our links to learn more and start sowing!

What if there were a chocolate bar whose production actually benefited people in need and the environment? And what if 51% of net sales of that bar aided Haitian rebuilding efforts? That's the idea behind the Haiti51 Chocolate Bar.

Healthy kids need healthy food every day. Fortunately, more and more schools are focusing on serving healthy, local, organic foods for school lunch. Yet recent findings about foods marketed to children suggest that the battle to feed the children well is far from over.

On May 30, the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee voted to cripple the nation’s budding effort to do something about the woeful quality of school food and make America’s kids healthier.

A new report by UC Berkeley researchers confirms what teachers, parents, and others involved with school gardens have witnessed: students whose curriculum includes integrated lessons about gardening, cooking, and nutrition, develop better eating habits than kids without such lessons.

Nourish California is a bold new initiative designed to increase food literacy and build healthy communities. K-12 teachers, school administrators, farm-to-school and garden coordinators, food service staff, health professionals, and nonprofit support providers are invited to join the network and receive a free DVD and curriculum at www.nourishlife.org.

"The Whole Plate: A Return to Real Foods" is a 4-Unit course in nutrition, cooking and food systems that integrates hands-on lessons like preparing and preserving food with critical analysis of nutrition issues and food systems. By the end of each unit, students know how to make a complete meal for their families -- in fact it's a course assignment!

Use these checklists, audit tools, lesson plans, action project ideas, and resources to green your schoolyard, create a school garden, and track progress at your school. Part of the Green Star Schools recognition program.